Assassin Crow Evolution

Jimmy did not like the look in the crow’s eyes. Its eyes told a thousand stories.

The large crow seemed sharp, and predatory, yes, but he also seemed tired, and fed up.

Jimmy could not make a full assessment, but whatever the results might end up being, he did not want to risk confronting a crow that seemed everything else except happy.

For that matter, his Retractable Razor Armor popped up the moment he felt slightly threatened. It was a natural reaction.

His armor may not be enough to protect him, but it was a start. He kept his legs loose just in case he had to launch a counter attack.

So far, neither of them said a thing.

Jimmy found comfort in the fact that Virena rustled in his back, and then climbed over his head. Perhaps curious, or she was preparing herself for a fight as well.

At last, the huge crow moved.

It took its first step, progressing from the eye of the Summoning Circle.

Its bones crackled like a just-lit fire. Its movements were sluggish, and overall seemed painful.

"Are you okay, old man?" He finally broke the silence.

The crow in front of him did not answer. It took a couple more steps forward, stopped, and then decided to stretch.

As the crow pushed his chest forward, and slowly stretched its wings outwards, it sounded like every bone in its body was cracking at the same time!

Despite knowing where the sounds came from, Jimmy subconsciously reacted and looked for firecrackers.

Little by little, the crow stretched his wings to their very limit, revealing the full size difference between him and Jimmy.

At twelve feet, or a little above three and a half meters long, the crow’s wingspan was so massive that it blocked part of the sun!

Jimmy could not see past the crow, at least. He was engulfed in the shadows inflicted by the wings of the other.

As if he was a fangirl, Jimmy’s feathers rapidly shifted in colors. Half of his emotions could be described as nervous, but the other half wreaked havoc in his brain. He didn’t know what to expect.

He wanted to trust this crow, as he knew that Gundor’s soul resided in it now, but then again, he had forgotten most of the conversations he had with this man by now. The problem with tripping absolute balls was that it was hard to maintain the memories of the trip afterwards. He was lucky he recalled enough information to complete the resurrection.

Anyway, as the crow stretched his body at its absolute limit, he let out a loud, ear-piercing caw!

If Jimmy was none the wiser, he would’ve believed that a god descended.

White fire spun below his slightly lifted claw. He was nearly convinced to shoot.

Thankfully, the crow in front of him calmed down, pulled his wings inwards, and then started cawing softly.

"Caw caw?" It said.

"What?" Jimmy pulled his head back, confused. "I didn’t catch that."

"Caw..." It grumbled.

This was yet another obstacle that Jimmy couldn’t have predicted. He was frustrated on everyone’s behalf.

Virena was ready to shoot. She almost wished that the crow took another step forward, so she could find an excuse to shoot her Fire Sphere at it.

Luckily, the crow took a step back. It knew that something was wrong.

It continued to caw, grumble, croak, rattle, click, and even hiss. Everything sounded gibberish to Jimmy, and he could not recognize a single word.

"Maybe crows spoke differently a few hundred years ago?" He figured, "I guess that makes sense."

Jimmy did not know how to feel about this, but at least the crow wasn’t hostile. Now, it looked tired at best, albeit frustrated.

Even Virena figured out that the crow did not wish to attack, and so she dispeled her Fire Sphere, rupturing it to imploded circles of fire, which softly dissipated over her head.

A few minutes later, after constant error, the crow finally spoke a word that Jimmy could recognize.

"Gundor," It said, "I am Gundor!"

"Ah," He sighed in relief, "I know who you are, I brought your soul here. But excuse us for... keeping you in check? I’ve forgotten the conversation we had, I just know you owe me some treasures now."

"Of course," Gundor said, though, it was visible that he was straining himself as he spoke, just to match Jimmy’s language. "I’m alive once more, because of you, and you have my deepest gratitude. I remember the promise I made."

Jimmy was excited that Gundor did not attack. He could dispel that particular worry out of his mind, but now, even though he was very excited to receive his reward, he was also as curious as ever.

For that matter, he asked, "I hate to bother you with this, but the Summoning Circle just pulled your bones from all around us, from every direction you can imagine, and I find that weird. Who bothered to spread your bones all over the meadows? What sort of vengeful beast did you piss off?"

"I died of old age," Gundor mustered a few words, "The Summoning Circle gathered the bones that my soul yearned. My skeleton decayed a long time ago, so the circle settled by pulling every bird bone close by. Those bones were not mine, but they are now."

An answer of such depths was something that he did not expect. He apparently under-valued the absolute power behind Summoning, which he had thought to be impossible up until a moment ago.

Summoning truly was a complicated branch of magic, and he hated the fact that he was nowhere close to carrying out experiments within this branch, nevertheless becoming an expert on it.

It was a branch that he craved to master, one that he admired, but for now, he had to settle for less.

Gundor’s answer soothed some of his urges to pull the craft apart, and study its finest parts.

In actuality, he wanted to ask Gundor hundreds of more questions, all the way from Summoning, to every word they exchanged when they first met. He didn’t remember much.

However, Gundor seemed tired, so once more, he had to settle for less.

He asked a single question, "I’m happy you get to enjoy life again, Gundor, but I have to ask you one question. Do you know anything about Summoning?"